The Winner of the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award:

Padre Jorge Rivera-Torres, Class of 1962

The Rev. Jorge Juan Rivera-Torres, Class of 1962, is the recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award.  As historian at the Diocese of Puerto Rico, his work has kept Anglican/Episcopal history alive, and provided an example of a bridge between the Puerto Rican identity and the Episcopal Church’s ethos and tradition.

Jorge Juan Rivera-Torres was ordained as a Priest of the Puerto Rico  Episcopal Church  on December 24, 1962 by Bishop A. Ervine Swift; six months after his ordination as Deacon on June 23rd. 

During his 56 years of ordination he has served as Pastor of eight churches and for 38 years as Historian and Archivist of the Episcopal Diocese of Puerto Rico.  Throughout his ministry he has been active in different programs of the Church including service as Director of the Pastoral Clinic Program for 13 years.

Since 1971 Padre Jorge was a pioneer in the development and implementation of work with Hispanics communities of the Episcopal Church in USA. From 1973 to 1980 he coordinated the procedure for the inauguration of the Episcopal Church in Puerto Rico as an Extra Provincial Diocese of the Anglican Communion. In the 1980s he served as Executive Secretary of the Caribbean Episcopal Province; as a member of the Caribbean Conference of Churches (CCC) and of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI). In the 90s during his ministry at Saint Luke and Saint Mary the Virgin Churches, he wrote the first volume of Historical Documents of The Episcopal Church in Puerto Rico, documenting the presence of Anglicanism in 1872 to the inauguration of the Iglesia Episcopal Puertorriqueña in 1980.  Since 2000 he has authored two books: Historical Documents of The Episcopal Church in Puerto Rico, Vol. 2 and Pastoral Clinic Leadership Training.

In 2011 Rivera-Torres established the Historical Archive of the Episcopal Church in Puerto Rico with approximately 4,000 documents available for research and reference.  In 2016 he directed the organization and establishment of a Museum with an exhibition of documents, collection of the Book of Prayer, vestments, works of art, and church important sacred objects. During the 110 Assembly of the Diocese of The Episcopal Church in Puerto Rico, the Museum was dedicated to The Rev Jorge Juan Rivera-Torres.

The Rev. Rivera-Torres was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico on May 4, 1936.  He graduated from Ripon College in Wisconsin before attending General and receiving his Master of Divinity in 1962. He has furthered his education with studies at the University of Puerto Rico in History and at Carlos Albizu University in Psychology.

He is married to The Rev. Blanca E. Otaño (Blanqui) ordained as the first Hispanic clergywoman in the Presbyterian Church USA. He has three daughters Lisa Marie, Aurora Taina and Sofia Cristina and one son Jorge Juan. He is the grandfather of Jorge Juan III, Sergio Andrés and Valentina Sofía.

As the contemporary Episcopal Church faces the challenge of embracing and meeting the needs of the various Latino/Latina/Latinx communities that feel called into our fold, we can look to the work and writings of Padre Rivera-Toreres for an example to see how a once predominantly white and Anglo religious tradition adapted itself to a completely different culture.

Rivera-Torres preached and was presented with the Distinguished Alumni Award at the Memorial Eucharist May 14, 2019, during the annual Alumni Gathering. Click here to read more. Click here to read Padre Jorge’s sermon.